With over 20 years of experience covering the Steelers for the Observer-Reporter, Dale Lolley will let you know the insider scoop. Dale can also be heard on the Steelers radio network pre-game show on WDVE-FM game days and Tuesday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. on ESPN 970-AM during the season as a host of the Antonio Brown Show. Follow him on Twitter at dlolleyor.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Steelers release Reed, sign Suisham

A few years ago, the Steelers brought young kicker Shaun Suisham to training camp to provide some daily relief to Jeff Reed.

Now, the Steelers have replaced Reed with Suisham.

The Steelers released the struggling Reed Tuesday, signing Suisham.

Reed, who had missed seven kicks this season, was making an NFL-low 68 percent of his kicks.

Weren't they also fed up w/ Holmes' attitude? Ooops. Reed's been mediocre, but there are a lot of things to consider when making this move. How many can truly kick on Hines Field? We might regret this one.

You don't think that other kickers in the NFL have has long field goal attempts? He is the worst kicker in the league % wise. If he is not accurate and able to make kicks others have problems with at Heinz field then what is he? He has a week leg and and is a total doucher off the field. This is about 2-3 months past due they should have never tendered him and then found a replacement this offseason.

How can we regret this when Reed has been terrible? Unless Suisham misses more than 32% of his kicks then there are no regrets. Even Suisham misses an important kick sometime this year, who is to say that jeff reed would have made it given the way his pudgy self has been kicking. Totally agree with this move. Too bad it dosn't help our porous pass D and bad offense.

Glad to see Reed go, he was to cocky for his own good and really just couldn't perform anymore. I just hope that we get a chance to play against him in the near future and we win because of a missed field goal..lol

I anoymously think it's a mistake. Should have babied the whiner & kept him for the rest of the year. He's a good kicker in a tough place to kick having a slump.

(I also anomymously think they should have, and thought so at the time, let Holmes play out his contract. Not because Wallace isn't good but because Randle El is so much worse than Wallace was in 2009. Now, getting to the 2003 season...)

I think the Steelers could tolerate Reed's shallow kickoffs as long as his accuracy on field goals remained high. Now that he's weak in both categories, and his attitude hasn't improved he simply wore out his welcome.

All that said, the guy was solid during two superbowl runs. I'm sorry it had to end on a sour note, and I thank him for doing his part to get us two more rings, but all good things must come to an end and time just ran out for Skippy!

This wasn't a knee-jerk reaction. They had just reached the end of their rope with him.As many have noted, his kickoffs were sub-par, but he made up for that in previous seasons by hitting the majority of his field goals. If that isn't happening, he was expendable.

Dale, the Steelers went into the first 4 games with the plan that they would depend on defense and FGs to win and it worked. Reed was the offense for the first two games. Bouchette correctly pointed out that the FGs Reed did miss were mostly outside his range. And you pointed out the very small difference between Reed kick offs and Suisham kick offs and kick return yardage. I think Tomlin and Colbert cut off their nose to spite their face and will end up regretting it this year. But, you're right that the NFL is "what have you done for me lately" and no one's job is safe.

I find it interesting that fans give their opinions with zero acknowledgment of the fact that they have no clue what went on behind closed doors.You would think that the best run franchise in the NFL would at least deserve that. The FO is not beyond making mistakes, but if Reed said those things publicly what could he have been saying privately? What short leash was he already on? None of us will know, but one thing is crystal clear: Suisham can miss a lot of FGs and still be better than Reed if his kick offs reach the 5 yard line.

The longest field goal EVER by ANY kicker at Heinz Field is 51 yards and Reed made it just this year.

marc, you're right that we don't know what went on in the locker room. We did find out this year that Reed had had to meet with Goodell, though, to discuss the minor run-ins with the law. As for the turf, it is a fact it is the worst surface in the NFL. Reed said that he slipped and after watching a slo-mo replay, it's clear that his plant foot did slide as he was about to hit the ball.

It should speak volumes that Suisham has not been able to hold a job since kicked for Washington.

Actually, the longest field goal made at Heinz Field is 53 yards and Reed made that this season. But he also missed every one of his attempts from 40 to 49 yards this season.The 26-yarder was the last straw. They saw a kicker who had lost his confidence who they weren't going to bring back in 2011 - assuming there's a season.

Why not try out another kicker if you don't feel Reed is in the right place mentally?

Thing is, any kick Suisham misses will be scrutinized even more so. People will wonder if Reed would have made it.It's going to be an unfair comparison and a tough spot for him.

the field as an excuse is getting old. if it was so bad then how come reed was a cumulative 45 of 49 at home the previous 3 seasons and 9 of 11 from 40-49 yards during that time?

but now, all of sudden, this season he can't hit 40+ yarders because of the field. really, it's not his fault, it must be the field.

look, the guy was money (except in '06) and even better in the playoffs. but he's lost it this year and his leg isn't getting any stronger. combine that with his attitude and grief he's giving the rooney's and see you later.

regardless of what tomlin says, i believe they cut him b/c of his attitude and his mouth. if he had his head on straight they would have stuck with him. but he was showing no signs of turning it around with the way he was handling the situation.

i have no problem bringing in another guy who most likely won't do any worse than reed already was.